Where Do We Go From Here?
by NightWatcher666
Summary: Poison Ivy is the one who saves Harley from her fall at Arkham. They decide to start new lives and get some unexpected help. Rated T for content, Harley/Ivy.


**All characters except the ones of my own making belong to DC comics and Warner Bros Entertainment. Only the plot is mine.**

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**Where Do We Go From Here**

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She woke up in a cold sweat as images of red and black and sounds of explosions and screams ran through her head. She went into the bathroom and looked into the mirror. Sighing, she pulled the damp red hair out of her face and stared into her greenish tinted reflection with no recognition of the person looking back at her. Oh sure she knew who she was, but somehow it didn't seem like her anymore. For the last two years she had lived a lonely existence with no one but her plants for company. Not that she minded her plants, in fact they were her main reason for living, but more and more she was starting to feel that something was missing. The life of a super villain was losing its appeal and she was sure it would be the death of her. She went to her makeshift kitchen and made herself a cup of tea since there was no use trying to get anymore sleep tonight. Still she could not shake the images from her head and the sense of dread that they instilled in her; something was very wrong somewhere and she was going to go find it. She followed her instincts and before long she was standing in front of the old Arkham Asylum building where she had spent so much of her life buried in her own thoughts. She immediately ducked into the shadows of the batmobile parked outside the ruined structure, and quietly slipped inside. In her head she knew it was a mistake to be here, but something inside her just wouldn't let her leave. Then she heard an explosion just like in her dream followed by a familiar scream. She ran to the source and saw Batgirl hanging from a ledge trying to lift Harley by the cuff of her costume, and sure enough just as it happened in her dream the cuff ripped and Harley fell. Unable to let her best and only friend die she threw some seeds down the deep hole to catch her. Knowing that Harley would be ok for the moment she went looking for the bastard that had once again placed her in a dangerous situation like this. By the time she located him in the theatre he had Batman on the ground while a young Joker look alike pointing a gun at him. At the last moment before killing Batman the boy moved and shot Joker in the chest. A small smirk appeared on her lips as she watched him fall to the ground dead, and she knew that with her help Harley's problems would be over. Quietly she snuck out of the operating theatre and made her way to the sub basement where Harley had landed. Much to her relief Harley was alive but not without some injury, and to top it off she was out cold. She pulled Harley out of the vines, tossed her over her shoulder and made a getaway just as she heard the Gotham Knights making their way down to her location.

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The next morning Harley winced as sun came pouring through the broken window and hit her right in the face. Finally she opened her eyes, but when she tried to move she found herself in pain from seemingly every inch of her body. She laid there for a moment or two trying to organize her thought and remember what had happened last night. Slowly images started coming back to her and she was able to more or less piece the events of the previous night together. The only thing she drew a blank on was how she wound up wherever she was. She remembered her and Batgirl being blown into the hole at the asylum, and she remembered her costume ripping, and falling, but after that it was just blank. Slowly and painfully she managed to sit up and take in her surroundings and from the looks of it a sleazier, more disgusting place didn't exist. She looked out the window by the nasty slop of material that she apparently had used for a bed to notice that she was not on a ground floor. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't imagine how she had managed to get to an upper floor of what appeared to be an old abandoned hotel. She managed to get on her feet, but as soon as she tried to straighten up she yelped in pain and fell back onto the bed. There had to be something odd that happened last night; otherwise she would have been a concrete pizza in the basement of that awful place, but for the life of her couldn't figure it out. Deciding that it was too painful to move at the moment, she just laid there staring at the ceiling when a gorgeous redhead came in carrying a cloth, pitcher of water and some new clothes.

"Red?" Harley gasped out in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"Who else do you think pulled your unconscious ass out of that hell hole?" Ivy responded coolly.

"Gee Red, thanks a million", Harley said as she painfully sat back up, "I feel like I went ten rounds with a steamroller."

"I'm not surprised", Ivy responded, "If it weren't for my vines you wouldn't be here now."

Harley whistled lowly, "I guess I owe ya one then."

"I guess so", Ivy replied as she dipped the cloth into the pitcher of water.

Ivy took the wet cloth and started cleaning off Harley's smeared and dingy makeup. As she wiped off the makeup from around her eyes she noticed that both of them were heavily bruised. She also noticed several other bruises and a red handprint on Harley's face.

"These weren't caused by the fall, were they?" Ivy asked looking Harley straight in the eye.

Tears began to well up in Harley's eyes as she shook her head, "I tried to keep Mistah J from hurting the kid too badly, but every time I'd say somethin he'd clobber me."

"How many times have I told you that he's no good Harl?"

"I know Red, but he's just so charming, and for some reason I just can't resist him", Harley responded as she winced from the cloth coming into contact with the bruises.

"Well, it won't be a problem anymore", Ivy said, "Joker didn't make it out last night."

"He'll just cool his heels in the funny farm for a while and be right back out for me", Harley said sadly.

Ivy knew that Harley was afraid of him and that for some reason she always went back whenever he beckoned, but she was sure it was more out of fear rather than love. She looked at the beaten up girl and took the sight of her in as she put the cloth down and began helping her out of her ripped jumpsuit.

"Ow, that hurts Red", Harley blurted out as Ivy pulled her arm out of the tattered top.

"Don't be such a child", Ivy said, "We have to get you into some real clothes."

Ivy helped Harley get her other arm out but as she went to take off the sports bra underneath Harley grabbed her hand.

"Did you see him last night?" Harley asked.

Ivy looked down and sighed; as much as she wanted to she just couldn't bring herself to lie to her friend, "Yeah, I saw him… Harley", she said somberly,"Joker's dead." "There, I said it", she thought to herself. She knew that in this state Harley's reaction wouldn't be good, but dammit she had told the truth.

"He's, he's what", Harley exclaimed as she started trembling, "That's a lie."

Ivy just shook her head and before she knew it Harley had flung her arms around her and was now openly sobbing on Ivy's shoulder.

"What happened", she demanded through her tears, "Ivy, I have to know."

Ivy was momentarily shocked at Harley's use of what she considered to be her name instead of the usual pet name. She sat Harley up and took one of the blondes' hands into her own. Once she was sure that Harley had calmed down slightly she relayed the story about that Joker looking kid that shot him.

"I guess he really had it coming this time", Harley said slightly calmer, "I told him not to do that to Robin, but all he did was hit me for it."

Ivy sat straight up in shock looking wild-eyed right at Harley, "That was Robin?"

Harley nodded and again the tears started flowing as she told Ivy the entire tale of how Joker and her kidnapped Robin, and he tortured and brainwashed him.

"I'm surprised that Batman didn't do it", Ivy said still in shock.

"The bat is many things, but he's not a killer", Harley said trying to force a small smile but failing, "I gotta get outta here Red. This town is death, and I can't stay anymore."

Ivy nodded as she pulled Harley into an embrace, "Take a few days to rest, after that we'll get out of here and start new lives."

"Oh yeah", Harley said sarcastically, "Psychotic plant lady and demented psycho slut leave town and go straight, I'm sure everyone will buy that."

"Not everyone has too", Ivy said, "Just one person does."

"You're not serious", Harley said, "He's gunna toss us away faster than a nut in a bowling alley."

"He's reasonable, I've seen that personally. If we just talk to him maybe he'll leave us alone."

"He does only come after us when we're doing bad stuff", Harley said, "But I wouldn't count on it."

Ivy wiped the remaining tears off of Harley's face, "It'll be ok, I promise."

Ivy leaned in to give her a small peck on the cheek, but was surprised when Harley turned and brought her lips to meet Ivy's. After a few moments the two separated; still breathing hard they leaned in and shared another moment of passion.

"Get some rest", Ivy said stroking the side of Harley's face, "We have a lot to do when you feel better."

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The elevator doors slid open and Bruce Wayne stepped out onto the top floor of the Wayne Enterprises building. He had dark bags under his eyes and an aggravated look on his face. Dr. Thomson was doing her best for Tim, but she had made it clear that this was no easy fix. He entered his office and closed the door. Immediately sensing that something wasn't right he scanned the room until he saw two women sitting on a couch in the corner. His eyes squinted as he fought to contain the rage that had bellowed up inside him as he looked upon Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. Harley had her hair pulled back into a pony tail, was wearing her glasses, and sported a feminine business suit. Ivy wore a green turtleneck and a knee length black skirt. If he hadn't known better he would have thought they were business people not criminals.

"What are you doing here", he demanded; his voice slipping into the gravel of Batman.

"We need your help", Harley said nervously.

"And what makes you think that you deserve my help", Bruce said slipping more into his batman voice.

Ivy looked on as this businessman began to ooze intimidation, and at that moment any doubt that Harley was telling the truth when she said that he was Batman vanished without a trace.

"We don't", Harley said, "We just don't have anyone else to turn to."

Bruce looked at the two women and then turned his back, "Get out", he said coldly.

"Please, just hear us out", Ivy added in.

Bruce let out a deep sigh, "No", he said, "After what has happened over the last few weeks you two are lucky I don't haul you off to New Arkham right now.

"I knew it was a long shot", Harley said as she got up and walked over in front of him, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry." She handed him a piece of paper and turned to leave, "That's a list of everything the Joker used on Tim. I'm not sure how helpful it will be, but it may point you in the right direction."

"Why didn't you stop him?" Bruce asked with anger still evident in his voice.

"I tried", Harley said as she pulled a moist towelette out of her purse and started rubbing off her carefully applied makeup. She turned to face Bruce and showed him the bruises on her face, "And this is what I got from it. By the end I was going along with it out of fear not loyalty. I was really upset when I first found out that he died, but now that I look at it through opened eyes, I realize that he was a terrible man, and I was guilty of romanticizing a monster."

"What do you want?" Bruce asked in a somewhat defeated voice.

"For you to leave us alone", Ivy spoke up, "We're leaving Gotham, and going off to start a new life. One devoid of everything that has made us miserable here, including crime."

"And if I say no, what will you do? Go public with my identity; try to hurt me or the ones I care about?"

"No", Harley said, "No threats, no blackmail, no guns, and no masks. We're just two women looking to make better of themselves than they have."

Bruce considered the words of the two women before looking straight into Harley's eyes, "Tomorrow, be on the roof at midnight. You'll have my answer then", Bruce said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a busy day ahead."

Harley and Ivy nodded as they silently exited the office. Ivy looked at Harley as they walked down the hall. She felt things well up inside her that she thought had withered and died long ago. She knew that she would never hurt this woman that way that clowned freak had, and would have pride in their budding relationship.

"Hey Red", Harley spoke up; "I'm gunna go cover the punchin bag back up."

Ivy nodded and took a seat on a bench as Harley went into the bathroom to reapply her makeup. She was beginning to consider what they had gotten themselves into. There were two of the most wanted criminals in the area, Had no money at the moment, and they were hanging out in a building that was owned by the Batman. The latter was the one that disturbed her the most.

"What the hell am I doing?" she asked herself, "I'm going to Batman for help with my life."

"Ok Red, I'm all prettied up, so let's go paint the town", Harley said as she came out of the restroom.

Ivy stood up and inspected Harley's makeup to make sure it was applied correctly. Once she was satisfied, they walked out of the building hand in hand and disappeared into the streets of Gotham.

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The following night Ivy and Harley stepped out onto the roof of Wayne Tower just as they had been instructed to. They were both feeling apprehensive about the situation that they were walking into, but they needed to settle things with the bat before they could get on with their lives. They jumped in shock as they turned a corner and came face to face with Batman.

"Jesus Christ", Harley practically shouted as she jumped backwards.

Ivy shook her head as she leaned up against a vent.

"So you two really want to straighten yourselves out", Batman said with his traditional gravelly voice.

Ivy and Harley silently nodded at the Dark Knight.

"Then I will not bother you. If you girls can keep it up, then as far as I'm concerned Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy no longer exist."

"Thank you", Ivy said earnestly.

Batman furrowed his brow, "But if either of you slip backwards, you'll both find yourselves back in the asylum before you know what hit you."

Again they both silently nodded even as grins started to appear on their faces.

"Then we have an agreement", Batman said as he fired his grappling gun and took off into the night, but in the place where he stood sat a small box marked for them.

Ivy opened the box and gasped at what she saw. There were birth certificates, Diver licenses, Diplomas, plane tickets, and employee I.D.'s for the San Diego branch of Wayne Enterprises.

"What's all this for?" Harley asked.

"He's giving us a chance, but he's going to be keeping an eye on us", Ivy responded.

"That's not creepy at all", Harley said sarcastically.

"Take what you can get", Ivy said as she picked up a large envelope out of the box. When she opened it her eyes went wide at the sight of twenty thousand dollars. Ivy thumbed through the envelope and found a note inside which read; "_Good luck, don't disappoint me_."

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Three days later they were on a plane to California. Ivy held on to Harley's hand as they took off from Gotham Airport. She never really liked flying, but for a chance to start a real life with the only person on the planet that she cared about, she'd sacrifice a lot. She couldn't quite explain it but for some reason this felt right. For the first time in years, she didn't feel like she was missing anything inside, and now she was getting a fresh start in sunny California. Harley was happily looking out of the window as the plane took to the skies, and whistling as Ivy laid her head down on her shoulder. A few hours later the plane landed and the duo exited the plane. As they went to the baggage claim to claim their bags Harley stiffened as a police officer crossed their path.

"Harley", Ivy said lowly, "You have nothing to worry about."

"I know Red, but I get nervous around police", Harley answered.

"You need to get over that", Ivy said.

"So who are we again", Harley asked.

Ivy sighed as she grabbed her bag off the conveyor belt, "I'm Ivy Dennis and you're Charlotte Trevors."

"Why did you get Ivy and I got a dumb name like that?" Harley asked with a pout.

"I don't know", Ivy said, "Just because your name is Charlotte doesn't mean you can't use Harley as your nickname. Besides isn't your real name Harlene?"

"No", Harley said, "It's Charlotte, but you can call me Harley." She extended her hand out to Ivy, "Nice to meetcha."

Ivy smiled slightly as she grabbed Harley's hand, "I'm Ivy."

They shared a laugh as Harley grabbed her bags and they left the airport for their new apartment. When they arrived Ivy paid the cab driver as Harley started getting the bags out of the trunk. It had taken a sizable chunk of the money that Bruce Wayne had given them, but they had a place to call home. Ivy had gotten them an apartment near the Wayne Enterprises San Diego building and had it fully furnished just in time for their arrival. They went inside and took their baggage into their shared bedroom where they promptly took the chance to relax in a comfortable bed. One thing led to another and soon the room was littered with clothing as they consummated their new lifestyle and the choices that would lead them to a happy life.

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(Seven years later)

A green Mercedes pulled in front of the local elementary school. Just like everyday Ivy Dennis and her Wife Charlotte came together to pick up their five year old son Jason from kindergarten. Not long after they had moved in together Harley had expressed interest in starting a family, so Ivy made that happen. First they got married in a small ceremony and then using artificial insemination got pregnant with their son. While they waited for the school bell to ring Ivy let her mind wander back to the night she woke up from a nightmare in that dark, dank hotel. Never again would she feel the emptiness that had plagued her. Now she had a family, and that was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

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**A/N: I hope you enjoyed the story. I do have a sequel planned but I need motivation to write it, so please read and review.**


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